


Rose-Quartz and Hematite

by CosmicFaeryWings



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Emotions, F/M, Implied/Referenced Death, Peace amid the chaos, Some domesticity - just a little bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-31 20:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13983135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicFaeryWings/pseuds/CosmicFaeryWings
Summary: If I summarise this, it will give away the whole plot... what plot there is.Please read, though. It's not a long story. : )





	1. CHAPTER ONE

**Author's Note:**

> OK, so I wrote this while playing DA:I.   
> Abilene is one of the new Inquisitors I made (I currently have four: two elves and two qunari/vashoth). She has just reached the Hinterlands.  
> And yes - for anyone wondering - the title is a reference to Samantha Traynor's (ME 3) chess board. The one back on Horizon, not the one she uses on the Normandy.

Abilene read the note and smiled. She’d known even before opening it who it was from: only Cullen had soldiers hand deliver things to her, then had them wait for her response. It was kind of sweet, in a way, though there had been times when the designated messenger had been left standing in the cold for the better part of an hour while she dealt with something more urgent.

“Tell him I will be there,” she told the soldier, who was waiting eagerly to get out of there and back to something a touch more productive.

She watched him as he walked away, folding the note and slipping it into a pocket as she did. She had all the letters and notes he had sent her, though why she kept them she really didn’t know. Emotional attachment to inanimate objects was not something she was usually afflicted with. But maybe this was more to do with what those scraps of paper and ink signified, more than a need to feel close to someone through them.

Back when she was still with the clan, her life had been all but planned out for her. The man – boy at the time of the choosing – she would bond with had been picked out, and in time she would take over as Keeper. It wouldn’t have been a bad life, but she didn’t love the man she was to have bonded with. He was more a brother to her than anything else.

She missed the clan. She missed the stories the Hahren told – especially the ones centred on Arlathan and the time before the fall of the elves – and sitting in the sun, reading yet another book Keeper Deshanna had given her to study. Yet she had found something during her time with the Inquisition that she hadn’t realised she was missing: Freedom. With the Inquisition she could read what she wanted, though not always when she wanted. She could choose who to fall in love with – as much as anyone could “choose” who they fell in love with – and act on those feelings as she saw fit.

To find that she had fallen for a human had been something of a surprise. That he felt the same way about her, an even bigger one given that he was a former templar and she was a mage. And maybe that was what her collection of notes and letters was all about: A reminder. Not that someone loved her, but that – through all the trials and tribulations the job of Inquisitor threw her way – she was not alone. She had people around her. People who were willing to stand by her, come what may.

There was comfort to be found in that, even on the worst of days.

**-x-**

Cullen looked up as the door to his office opened, his frown morphing into a smile when Abilene walked in. He could still remember the first time he had seen her, He had been fighting through a horde of demons with some of the Inquisition’s soldiers. Things had not been going their way… which was putting it mildly. Then this elf had been there, staff in hand, a smile on her face as she practically danced her way across the battlefield. At least, that was how he remembered it.

Had he felt something for her, even back then? Perhaps. But if he had, he had pushed those thoughts right to the back of his mind. They’d had more immediate things to worry about than relationships and the like. Which wasn’t to say he didn’t look forward to their conversations or breathe more easily when he knew she was home safe from another trek to the Hinterlands, or farther afield. And, truth be told, he’d been unsure. Not about whether any relationship with her could work on a physical level – he’d seen enough elf-bloodied humans to know that was a possibility – but whether his being a templar (former templar) and her being an elven apostate might cause too much friction.

Now, he found he regretted those lost moments. Those times when she’d asked him to take a walk with her or challenged him to a game of chess and he had found some excuse not to go.

“Good, you made it,” he commented, getting up from his chair and walking over to the bookcase. “There’s something I wanted to ask you.”

Abilene watched him for a moment as he trailed one finger over the spine of some of the books lining the shelves.

“I have to go away for a few days,” he continued when she said nothing. “Inquisition business. I was wondering... I was _hoping_ you might join me.”

For a few seconds, Abilene said nothing as she weighed up the options in her head. Three days dealing with dignitaries and the fallout from Sera’s pranks, or three days alone – more or less – with the man she loved? It was not a difficult choice.

“When are you leaving?” she queried, trying not to sound too eager.

“First light,” Cullen replied.

Abilene nodded. “Then I will meet you by the stables.”

She stayed a few minutes longer, then excused herself and left to return to her room. If they were going to be heading out at first light, she wanted to get some sleep… and maybe pack a few things for the journey. Cullen had a room above his office, but their relationship hadn’t reached that stage. Perhaps one day, but not yet.


	2. CHAPTER TWO

Leading his horse by its reins, Cullen walked through the ruined village. He’d known the Blight had touched the whole of Ferelden in one way or another, but he hadn’t expected the devastation to still be so apparent ten years on. The place was abandoned. Nothing more than an empty shell, a faded memory of what it had once been.

“This place was special to you?” Abilene asked gently, walking beside him.

Cullen was silent for a moment, then he nodded. “It still is. This is where I was born, and where I lived until I joined the templars. I used to play chess with Mia on the grass there while Rosalie chased Branson around, trying to get back a doll he was “holding to ransom”.

“It sounds… normal.”

“I guess it was,” Cullen laughed. “But like most children, I didn’t appreciate what I had until it was…”

“I’m sorry,” he uttered, quietly.

Abilene shook her head. “Don’t do that! You weren’t responsible for what happened to my clan!”

Cullen knew she was right, but he couldn’t help wondering if things might have turned out differently had he… He really needed to stop doing that: second guessing himself. Life was too short for “what if” and “maybe”. If the Blight or events in Kirkwall hadn’t taught him that, what had transpired at the Temple of Sacred Ashes certainly had.

“You did what you needed to?” Abilene enquired a short time later.

“I did.”

He paused for a moment, then added, “We should spend the night here, before heading back to Skyhold tomorrow. One of these houses should provide adequate shelter. And there’s one more place I’d like to show you.”

Smiling, Abilene leaned her head against his shoulder. With everything that had been going on recently, it was a long time since she had felt this relaxed.

**-x-**

 

Lying her sleeping bag on the floor, Abilene wiggled her way into it. The only light came from a single candle.

“Thank you,” she whispered as she looked up at the ceiling, her head resting on a rolled-up blanket. “I needed this.”

Cullen watched her, silently, the flickering light from the candle casting intricate shadows across her face.

For a few minutes, neither of them uttered a word. This was a rare moment. One where they could – just for a short time – forget the Inquisition and the Breach and just… breathe. They were going to savour it while they could, for who knew what tomorrow might bring.

“Was there anyone at the Circle?” Abilene asked, breaking the silence.

“There were many people at the Circle,” Cullen commented. “Mages. Templars. Tranquil…”

“You know what I mean!”

“Templars watch mages for any sign of corruption. They need to act without hesitation at the first sign of possession or illegal magic. Getting too close to their charges is not recommended.”

Abilene fixed him with her piercing green eyes. “That’s not quite an answer, Commander.”

Cullen sighed, heavily. He knew what she was asking: Would there have been a “them” if he was still a templar? The brutally honest answer was “no”.

“I took my duties seriously,” he replied simply.

For several seconds Abilene stared up at the ceiling, contemplating his words. Then she turned to face him again.

“No offence,” she laughed. “But I’m glad I didn’t know you back then.”

“I was… different then, more so during the time I was in Kirkwall. Less tolerant. But it’s getting late and we have an early start tomorrow.”

He blew out the candle, then crawled into his own sleeping bag. Late as it was, however, he knew he was going to have trouble sleeping. The cause was lying in her own sleeping bag, just a few feet from him. If he reached out, he could likely touch her face.


	3. CHAPTER THREE

At dawn, Abilene found Cullen standing outside. He’d pulled his boots on, but other than that he was wearing nothing but his breeches and a tunic.

“Trouble sleeping?” she asked, pulling the blanket she’d been using as a pillow more tightly around her shoulders.

He nodded but said nothing.

Abilene stood with him a while, then headed back indoors and started packing her things. It didn’t take long. When she was done, she looked through the remaining provisions. There was bread, cheese, meat, some dry crackers, and a water skin they’d been refilling as required. She pulled out crackers and meat, the water skin and the one plate. Brushing the dust from the small kitchen table, she set the plate down at its centre and arranged the food on it. Then she unclipped the two tankards from the front of the provisions pack and quarter-filled them with water.

Walking back into the abandoned house, Cullen smiled at the sight that greeted him. “I could get used to this. The peace and quiet. Breakfast on the table every morning…”

“And six hungry children screaming at you because they all want your attention… NOW,” Abilene added as she helped herself to some of the food.

Cullen laughed. “Why six?”

Abilene shrugged. “It was the first number that came to mind.”

Cullen choked on the piece of cracker he was eating, and quickly took a sip from his tankard to wash it down.

 “We should get going soon,” he said, his eyes focused on a patch of Abilene’s light blonde hair the rising sun had turned a pale lilac. “And about what was said last night: I’m glad I didn’t know you back then too.”

When they were finished eating, Abilene repacked the provision’s pack while Cullen got his things together. The horses were outside, eating grass.

**-x-**

The lake was clear, the area quiet and peaceful. Tranquil came to mind but given its connotations she quickly dismissed that thought. They were sat on a blanket Cullen had laid out on the snow, sharing a bottle of wine.

“I used to come here when I was younger,” Cullen explained, refilling both their tankards. “Before I left to join the templars. Sometimes it was to get away from my brother and sisters. Other times, it was simply to get away.”

“I can see why,” Abilene stated, looking out over the lake. “Eben would have loved it here. He was always…”

“I’m sorry,” she muttered, turning to face the man sitting beside her. “You probably don’t want to spend what time we have here listening to me take about the man I was promised to.”

Cullen smiled warmly. “Tell me about him.”

Abilene took a breath. “He was a master, what you would call a warrior. It was his job to protect the clan from harm… along with the other warriors. When he wasn’t doing that, he liked to walk in the mountains and the forests. Anywhere where he could be alone to clear his mind. He was sent with me, to the Conclave…”

She fell silent now, her gaze fixed on the deep red liquid in the tankard she was holding.

“You loved him?” Cullen asked, gently.

“I… No. Not like that. I loved him, but I wasn’t _in_ love with him. He was… he was more a brother to me than anything else.”

“I think you would have liked him,” she added quietly.

Without thinking, Cullen reached over to wipe a stray tear from her cheek.

She turned her face to his palm and pressed a kiss to it, her fingers interlacing with his.

“I’ve lost so much,” she whispered. “Too much. Tell me I won’t lose you as well.”

Cullen couldn’t do that. He wouldn’t do that. There was no way for him to know what tomorrow might bring… or the next day. And he knew Abilene knew this too. All he could do was be there now, whenever she needed him to be.

He felt her press another kiss to his palm before she relinquished her hold on his hand and got to her feet.

“We should be on our way,” she said, draining her tankard and shaking out the remaining droplets of wine over the rocks and snow. “Skyhold is waiting and the Breach might start getting cranky if I leave it waiting too long.”

Looking up at her, Cullen smiled. She was a fighter… a survivor. She’d hit a low point, but she would rise above it. She always did. And if she needed him to be, he would be there to support her in whatever way she wanted.  

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.  
> I would say I haven't written anything for a while, but that wouldn't be entirely truthful. I've written and deleted literally thousands of words.  
> Anyway. I thought it was about time I got something posted again.  
> I hope you enjoyed it (apologies for any mistakes, I didn't proof read it) and if you have any comments or constructive criticisms, feel free to send them my way.  
> Also, kudos are nice : )


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